This disclosure relates generally to a blade outer air seal and, more particularly, to cooled, grooved blade outer air seal.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
The compressor and turbine sections of a gas turbine engine include alternating rows of rotating blades and stationary vanes. The turbine blades rotate and extract energy from the hot combustion gases that are communicated through the gas turbine engine. The turbine vanes prepare the airflow for the next set of blades. The vanes extend from platforms that may be contoured to manipulate flow.
An outer casing of an engine static structure may include one or more blade outer air seals (BOAS) that provide an outer radial flow path boundary for the hot combustion gases. The BOAS are arranged circumferentially adjacent to each other and meet at mate faces. The tips of rotating blades seal against radially inner faces of the BOAS. Complex BOAS geometries have been developed to enhance sealing interfaces between the BOAS and the blade tips. Cooling these complex geometries is often difficult.